Deng never broke off relations with any of his children, and none of them ever broke off relations with him. He also maintained close friendships with the household help—the driver, the cook, the orderly, and the director of his personal office, Wang Ruilin. Indeed, Wang Ruilin, except when separated from Deng from 1966 to 1972, served as Deng's office director from 1952, when Wang was just twenty years old, until Deng's death in 1997. He was regarded by Deng as more like a family member than a comrade.
